IT Hiring Happening, Albiet At A Slower Pace Than We Want

There is good news and not so encouraging news on the IT job front: companies are hiring on tech workers though not at the pace IT workforces were cut last year.

According to Tech America Foundation, 215,000 jobs at tech companies have been lost since 2009 but those same companies are slowing shoring up the depleted ranks. The industry hired back 30,200 workers in the first six months of this year and total IT employment is now at 5.78 million.

A Computerworld article offers up insight from John Longwell, VP of research at Computer Economics:

"Those sectors that are feeling the early stages of the recovery are hiring, but we expect IT organizations overall to continue to run very lean through the remainder of this year," Longwell said.

The article also includes a job hiring industry assessment from Andrew Bartels, an analyst at Forrester Research:.

"Companies have been very, very cautious about hiring employees, especially permanent staff," said Bartels. Users are investing in technology, particularly automation, as a way of avoiding hiring, he said.

Let’s face it, after the past few years of job losses overall in the country, the fact that the IT sector is hiring back at all is great news for professionals, the vendors and businesses who are more depending on IT every day.

It might just be time to dust off the resume and start looking at what tech opportunities are cropping up and taking a proactive approach to career advancement. Start here.

By: Judy Mottl